College Hockey Realignment: Notre Dame Headed To Hockey East, Along With ...
by Brian Favat on Oct 3, 2011 2:30 PM EDT
in Boston College Hockey
Email
Print
The big news over the weekend was that the newly formed National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) sent out a press release saying that the conference will choose to stay at the current number of eight teams. This effectively ends the possibility of Notre Dame joining the conference, leaving the Irish with only one real option: joining Hockey East for the 2013-14 season.
Notre Dame reportedly was leaning towards joining the more geographically-suitable NCHC, but couldn't come to terms with the conference on any television deal. And supposedly the Irish's NCHC invite came with an expiration date that Notre Dame let slip.
The South Bend Tribune reported that associate AD Tom Nevala said a formal announcement could come on Wednesday, which means maybe by the end of this year.
Notre Dame joining Hockey East opens the door for Bertagna to expand the conference to an even dozen, as the conference's preference is to keep HEA at an even number of teams. So who joins the Irish as lucky team #12?
Here's a rundown of five possible additions, in no particular order.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers
The early front-runner for HEA #12 appears to be the RPI Engineers, though I'm not really sure why. RPI boasts a rabid college hockey fan base and a pair of National Championships (1954, 1985), but not much else. RPI was invited to join Hockey East twice previously, but declined both times.
Pros: Program with a lot of history, including two National titles, extends the HEA footprint into upstate New York
Cons: Small enrollment (would be 10th largest in HEA), arena on the small size (would be 9th largest in HEA), participates at the Division III level for 21 / 23 sports, not an all-that-attractive market
Connecticut Huskies
The UConn women's program is already a member of Hockey East, so this would seem to make for an easy transition to the conference. The big sticking point is the current UConn men's program is woefully under invested, and there's no telling whether the school would consider raising the funds necessary to compete at the HEA level with a full compliment of scholarships and an upgraded facility
Pros: Better fit geographically, school is committed to fielding competitive D-I athletics programs, women already in HEA, get to kick around UConn in another sport
Cons: This program is currently a terrible Atlantic Hockey program and would take a long time to become competitive in HEA (think: worse than the last 10 years of Providence hockey), dealing with obnoxious nouveau riche UConn fans in another sport
Holy Cross Crusaders
Again, probably a pipe dream, but if the Holy Cross administration wanted to prioritize winning sports programs again, it would be great to see the Crusaders-Eagles rivalry get rekindled on the ice. Between BC, Merrimack, Providence, Notre Dame and Holy Cross, HEA would be full up on Catholic colleges fielding men's varsity hockey programs.
Pros: Adds a regional, Jesuit rival to the league, one located just 40 miles from Chestnut Hill, extreme geographic fit, similar institution to BC, MC, PC and Notre Dame
Cons: Just two NCAA Tournament appearances in school history, tiny arena, more or less non-competitive in Atlantic Hockey
Bowling Green Falcons
Because, why not? After the Irish announce that they are moving to Hockey East, Bowling Green will be the only Division I-A program -- well, along with Alabama-Huntsville ... sad -- that will be without a conference home at the start of the 2013-14 season. Why not take on the BGSU Falcons as a travel partner with Notre Dame? Of course, there's always the Jerry York connection too, the school where York won his first title in 1984.
Pros: Long history of play in the CCHA, which has been a much stronger conference than the conference of any other expansion target, York's national title, Notre Dame travel partner, extends Hockey East footprint into Indiana and Ohio
Cons: Nearly folded the program two years ago citing economic concerns, has been fairly non-competitive in CCHA play last several years, flights from Toledo Express Airport to Bangor, Maine ain't cheap or convenient
Quinnipiac Bobcats
I'll continue to stump for the Quinnipiac Bobcats, who unlike RPI, are making serious investments in its Division I-A athletics programs as a way of extending the school's brand and improving its image. Quinnipiac was added to the ECAC in part due to their promise of building a new, multipurpose sports arena, which they delivered on when the school opened the new, 3,386-seat TD Bank Sports Center in 2007. QU hasn't made a ton of noise in ECAC play and have just one NCAA Tournament appearance in school history (2002).
Pros: Better geographic fit than RPI (imo), extends Hockey East footprint into Connecticut (New York City?), school that is investing heavily in D-IA athletics
Cons: Little history, little to no success in the ECAC or the NCAAs
Wait And See
Hockey East's best bet may just be to sit back and survey the college hockey landscape over the next year. Notre Dame wouldn't start Hockey East play until the 2013-14 season, giving HEA two full seasons to make a sound strategic and financial decision on program #12. A lot can happen in that time.
Who knows? A school like Syracuse, Pittsburgh (with the NCAA's focus on expanding its presence in Pennsylvania) or UConn could find a Terry / Kim Pegula-type donor willing to invest millions in seeing their alma mater field a competitive Division I-A program. Schools like Syracuse, Pitt or UConn would help extend the HEA, and by extension college hockey's image and help grow the sport. Schools like RPI, Quinnipiac and Holy Cross do little to help build the college hockey brand nationally.
My advice to Bertagna would be to not rush this decision. Extend an invite to Notre Dame and wait a full season before moving on program #12. Oh, and let's wrap up all this conference realignment and expansion talk before the season starts ... unlike college football.
30 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
ND would be a fun addition to the HE slate. Perhaps this will be the cataylst for HE to improve their marketing and TV exposure.
by Eagle in Brighton on Oct 3, 2011 3:07 PM EDT reply actions
It’s things like this that have always made me reluctant to get on board the ‘ND-to-HE’ bandwagon. ND is too arrogant in its current situation. Wait until they get knocked down a peg.
I see every RPI fan has found this board and voted.
by CSOM_97 on Oct 4, 2011 10:27 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
12th team
Q’Pac would seem to make a lot of sense, though the arena could use some more seats.
HC and UCONN seem unwilling to make the necessary upgrades to their programs and BGSU doesn’t make much sense in my opinion.
As an RPI observer I would like to see the Engineers finally make the jump to Hockey East. They seem to have everything in place, so it would be now or never.
Your assessment of the school and the program is not accurate.
Though not large, like N’Eastern and BU, it is not a tiny school. With undergraduate enrollment above 4,500 it is larger than Merrimack and Provdence and also larger than Holy Cross and Q’Pac.
The renovated Houston Field House is not tiny either, with seating capacity a little over 4,800 and crowds averaging over 3,600.
The school has made major investments in the arena as well as other athletic facilites, including a brand new 5,000 seats football stadium that has many amenitites not found even in some small D1 facilities like UNH.
I don’t know what is an attractive market to you, but the metropolitan Capital Distrcit has more tha 750,000 people and is growing. The team is covered on a regular basis by three daily newspaers (Troy, Albany and Schenectady) with a circulation of about 200,000 readers. There are also five local TV news outlets covering the team. This is a mid-major media market, about the same size as Providence and Springfield/Amherst and larger than Burlington, Orono.
With respect to markets, UVM is the state’s major land-grant university. Maine is the state’s flagship university. RPI is a private technical university with an enrollment half the size of either.
Certainly both UVM and Maine draw fan interest from more than just the media market around campus. Especially considering RPI is far from the only college hockey game in upstate New York.
I still maintain adding RPI does little to nothing to extend Hockey East’s brand or college hockey’s image nationally. Would rather wait around for UConn, Syracuse or Pitt imo.
Editor, BC Interruption
Further, Albany’s Times-Union Center has been home to some of the most poorly attended NCAA regional games outside of St. Louis over the past 10 years. For all the supposed college hockey interest and support in upstate NY, fans have been largely apathetic come tournament time.
Likely the reason the ECAC-hosted regional has been moved from Albany to Bridgeport.
Editor, BC Interruption
RPI, pros and cons
Interesting take on RPI. Much more negative than the others in the list, it seems. By the criteria being applied to RPI, a decent portion of Hockey East doesn’t belong in the league anymore.
School size: approx 5,000 undergraduates and another 1,000 grad students. So much larger than Merrimack and Providence, as well as candidate Holy Cross, and almost the same size as Quinnipiac. Hardly a “tiny school.”
Arena size: approx 5,000 post-renovation. About middle for Hockey East – larger than Matthews, Gutterson, Schneider, Lawler, just slightly smaller than Alfond. Same size as Notre Dame’s brand new rink (5,000). Hardly a “tiny arena.”
Market: Area of approx 750,000 people. Agreed, not a premier market. However, Holy Cross is a small school in Worcester, Quinnipiac is a smaller university in a state dominated by UConn (and doesnt really get you into the New York market), and Bowling Green is in a similar market in Ohio. For that matter, by this criteria, almost every Hockey East school outside of Boston is in a “not-all-that-attractive market.”
Division III: Last I checked, the league is “Hockey East,” not “All Sports East.” Merrimack and Lowell are DII schools. RPI is able to offer scholarships. RPI has invested $100 million into a new athletic village recently. It’s not UConn/Boston College, but it’s not exactly Little Sisters of the Poor, either.
The idea of Syracuse is a terrific one, if it were to happen. But it has serious Title IX implications and would force a major investment in women’s sports beyond adding an (expensive) hockey team. Syracuse itself has acknowledged the issue. It’s not going to go away.
RPI has very real history against the Hockey East schools, many of whom were ECAC before they split – and who have twice invited RPI to join Hockey East in the past. RPI’s all-time against BU is 29-33-3, all-time against BC is 14-19-1, all-time against UNH is 20-24-0, all-time against Northeastern is 25-16-2. In the past half-dozen years, BU, UNH, UMass, Northeastern, Merrimack, Lowell and Providence have all come to Houston Field House (and RPI and Maine played at a neutral site) and RPI has visted most of their rinks. Again, hardly a school they are unfamiliar with or don’t have a valued relationship with.
I’m not sure RPI is the perfect fit – but there may not be a “perfect fit.” And I don’t think RPI is sold on the idea, either. But let’s at least have a discussion based on the facts.
Merrimack is considering a move to Division I. I believe Lowell is too. It is less about the “All Sports East” and more about sharing a conference with member schools that share similar values and prioritize big time college sports.
Again, having nothing against RPI personally, but don’t see any value-add for Hockey East. Certainly doesn’t help the conference extend the brand nationally.
Editor, BC Interruption
But in that case
The only one that does is UConn. Which has shown almost zero commitment to hockey, has a horrible rink, a tiny fan base AND would be competing against basketball in a state where basketball is just about the only priority. UConn prioritizes big-time basketball, sorta big-time football, and soccer.
It is worth noting that RPI has considered a DI move in the past, too: http://www.withoutapeer.com/2011/08/excellence-leadership-and-community.html
Honest question: Would Colgate be a better option for Hockey East than RPI, in an ideal scenario? Much smaller school, but in the DI Patriot League. Or is the only way forward for Hockey East to find a large university more like BU/UMass or a mid-sized university like BC/UVM/etc.?
Quinnipiac is also Division I, and has shown over the past 10 years that they are willing to seriously invest in college athletics as a way of strengthening the school’s brand.
Army could be another option.
Again, no disrespect to RPI, but if you say to Rensselaer to your average college sports fan, I think a majority would have a hard time placing the school on a map. HEA already has programs with little to no national appeal — Merrimack, Lowell — and PC has been terrible for over a decade. I don’t see the upside in adding another relatively small school where hockey is one of the only DI sports offered.
Editor, BC Interruption
Any chance you'll at least correct
The “tiny school, tiny arena” stuff, since it’s clearly not accurate?
You didn’t remove them, you just found a way to restate your opinion in a less snarky way. You still need to apply your criteria consistently across the schools. Otherwise, you would show how each school matches up with each other and the current HE schools as you did with RPI, and you’d see that calling RPI’s rink “tiny” and then talking about how amazing Q’Pac is doesn’t make sense. Maybe in english-major math 3000 seats is a bigger rink than 5000. I challenge you make an effort to attend a game at RPI this year and see if that doesn’t change your opinion of the school’s commitment to it’s athletic teams.
No, the complaint was that the cons were not factual. They are now factual. Just because you don’t like what the facts tell you doesn’t mean they are misstated.
Editor, BC Interruption
“Tiny” is a relative word, so it could be factual, depending on what you are comparing it to. My point is, you’re drawing attention to the size relative to the rest of HE, but do not do the same when you talk about how great Q’Pacs rink is. If you make RPI’s rink size a con, you should do the same for Q’Pac as their rink is even smaller. Otherwise, it shouldn’t be a con for RPI if you’re actually using it as a Pro for Q’Pac.
It no longer says tiny.
Like I said, each program has its warts. QU’s arena, while smaller, is actually relatively new. But the biggest con for QU is it’s lack of historical success, though if I was Bertagna, I’d much rather break into the Connecticut market than a crowded, Upstate NY college hockey market.
Editor, BC Interruption
No, but it still says on the smaller size. When you add that as a con to Q’Pac I will be satisfied. (again, 3000 is smaller than 5000)
RPI’s rink structure may be old, but it’s been completely renovated. They also just dumped ton of money into a new basketball and football arenas and stage 2 is a new pool and indoor track. Once again, you should come to a game before judging. If the last time you went to a game was in Fridgen’s era I could see why you would hate on our “barn”
In case you think NY is “wicked fah” You can see photos http://www.rpiathletics.com/sports/2010/5/19/GEN_0519103709.aspx?
Quinnipiac’s biggest con is little/no success. That’s not a con for RPI, since they have won two National titles, even if I was 3 years old when that last happened.
QU just built a brand new arena. Houston Field House has been around since the 1940s … QU has an edge in facilities.
Editor, BC Interruption
“But opinions are mixed within Hockey East — i.e. the athletic directors who make the decisions — about whether they want RPI. The school is Division III in all other sports, doesn’t fit as well geographically (the Notre Dame move notwithstanding), and isn’t as logical a pick as some others.
[snip]
RPI would remain the frontrunner, but it’s not a slam dunk. Hockey East could also decide to stick with 11 for a while — maybe playing that way for a year or two — while waiting to see how things play out. Just because they have stated a preference for 12, doesn’t mean that playing with 11 is impossible. The CCHA did it last year, and will for two more seasons."
http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2011/10/05_whats_next_for_college_hockey.php
Editor, BC Interruption
Read
Again, no disrespect to RPI, but if you say to Rensselaer to your average college sports fan, I think a majority would have a hard time placing the school on a map. HEA already has programs with little to no national appeal — Merrimack, Lowell — and PC has been terrible for over a decade. I don’t see the upside in adding another relatively small school where hockey is one of the only DI sports offered.
Editor, BC Interruption
This isn’t an all-sport conference. It’s HOCKEY East, and plenty of HOCKEY fans know what RPI is (and only Dr. Jackson’s people call it “Rensselaer”). Hockey is full of schools that aren’t well known for their other sports and not just in HE. From a recruiting perspective, do you really think some kid in Moose Jaw cares if RPI has a football team? And from a publicity standpoint, RPI doesn’t have any trouble getting butts in seats at their games (unlike Colgate or Brown for example which frequently have fewer fans in attendance at their home games than RPI brings) and if major television deals are what you’re after, RPI is not going to make or break HE’s ability to score on of those, but I don’t think any other school they could potentially bring in would either if they are terrible (UCONN)
Every expansion candidate has its warts, RPI included.
And I’m still not hearing what actual value RPI adds to Hockey East. Comparisons to current HEA members don’t hold water because those teams are already in the conference. RPI may outdraw Colgate or Brown, but those are two terrible ECAC programs. Rensselaer was outdrawn by Cornell and Yale in the ECAC last year, and has per-game attendance in line with Dartmouth and Quinnipiac.
RPI’s per-game attendance in 2010-11 would have been 8th best in HEA last year, ahead of only Merrimack, Northeastern and Providence — three underperforming member programs.
I’m also not getting the urgency to leave the ECAC from RPI fan’s perspectives, considering the Engineers have been largely noncompetitive in a lesser league for 15 seasons. Is that supposed to change in Hockey East?
HEA is operating from a position of strength at the moment, and any expansion candidate would have to add significant value for it to make sense. Rensselaer simply is not a slam dunk, especially as a smaller private school in a crowded college hockey market (upstate NY).
Editor, BC Interruption
Personally, from a school profile standpoint I think RPI fits better within the ECAC, and I like the association with the Ivy Schools, but from a hockey perspective they have been on the rise under Appert’s reign and could be ready for a new, more challenging league. I would wager that their non-conference record was one of the best in the league and that of any of the other schools you mentioned considering they probably have a better record against common opponents, which was why even though they didn’t impress within the league they were still able to make the tournament. I wouldn’t say based on the other schools you mentioned that any of them are really bringing anything special to the table either.
“But from a hockey perspective they have been on the rise under Appert’s reign and could be ready for a new, more challenging league.”
This seems the same as Florida State fans longing for an SEC invite. In my opinion, RPI should focus on winning the ECAC before looking elsewhere. Personally, I hope HEA stays at 11 teams.
Editor, BC Interruption
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on BC Interruption
Related FanShots on BC Interruption
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
